R O G E R

B E A U J O L A I S:

B I O G R A P H Y

photo: Tom Benjamin

I bought my first vibraphone at the age of 24 (after a wasted youth being a very bad - not to mention unemployed - rock drummer) & played my first gig at the age of 28. I am completely self taught.

Soon after starting on vibes I was a founder member of jump/jive band "The Chevalier Brothers" & had a successful time in the 1980's touring Europe extensively along with many gigs in the UK & trips to the USA & Japan. For a brief period we were darlings of the UK rock press but outside the UK we were known on the jazz scene playing at numerous jazz festivals including Montreux, North Sea & others in Sweden, Norway, Finland, Belgium & France.

During this time we also released 3 albums, 4 singles & did several gigs with Slim Gaillard. A compilation of the first album & some outtakes from the same period were released on CD for the first time in 1999 on Westside Records.

After a brief period with chart topping Fairground Attraction in 1989 (one of the few times a pop band has ever been interested in featuring vibes!) I have been concentrating on recording my own albums.

The first album "Mind How You Go" was released in 1990, the second, "Talk, Talk & More Talk" in 1993 - both on Acid Jazz Records. Some of the first album was recorded before I had the record deal with Acid Jazz & as far as I knew at the time I was writing & playing latin jazz. How wrong can you be? It turned out I was playing Acid Jazz. For this band I had chosen some old friends who happened to be some of the UK's top salsa musicians: Dave Pattman on bongos, Simon Edwards on bass, Roberto Pla on timbales, Poland Perrin on piano, Roy Dodds on drums & Pete Eckford on congas.

For more information go to Beaujolais Band

Vibraphonic, the most commercially successful band I have, has had 5 albums out. Two on Acid Jazz: "Vibraphonic" (1993) & the imaginatively titled "Vibraphonic 2" (1995); 2 with US company Hollywood Records - "A Vibraphonic Christmas" (1996) & "On A Roll" (1997); & one on StayTuned Records "Acid Jazzizms" (2000). The Acid Jazz releases were available worldwide, the Hollywood releases in North America & the latest in the UK only.

This band plays a mixture of funk, soul & jazz & features some friends of mine (who, again, happen to be some of the best musicians in that area in the country). These include Tony Remy on guitar, Nick Cohen on bass, Alison Limerick & Lennox Cameron on vocals, Pete Lewinson on drums & Mark Lockheart on sax.

Various tracks from the Acid Jazz albums have appeared on numerous compilations & have had regular radio & club plays & have been used as theme tunes or incidental music for TV & radio.

"Can't Get Enough" from "Vibraphonic 2" was very successful in the USA staying at No 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart of trade magazine "Radio & Record" for 4 weeks. At its peak it was being played on 52 of the 53 stations that supply the chart. "Vibraphonic 2" sold over 20,000 copies worldwide, 10,000 of those in the USA.

It's possible to listen to samples of tracks & buy CD copies of "Vibraphonic", "Vibraphonic 2" & "Acid Jazzizms" through this site on the "Buy CD's" or "Vibraphonic" pages.

For more information go to Vibraphonic

My first quintet album of straight-ahead jazz was released November 1999. Called "For Old Times" it features some original tunes as well as some jazz standards & some obscure tunes by Grant Green, Bobby Hutcherson & Wayne Shorter.

The band features some of the UK's top jazz players - Mark Lockheart on tenor & soprano sax, Robin Aspland on piano, Simon Thorpe on double bass & Winston Clifford on drums.

There have now been 4 quintet albums, the latest was released February 2008. For more information go to Roger Beaujolais Quintet

Other bands I regularly play with include the Tony Remy Band, Davide Mantovani, Mark Nevin &.Tim Richards "Great Spirit". Check the other band section for more details.

Pop sessions I have played on include Robert Plant, Roni Size, Shola Ama, Omara Portuondo, Fairground Attraction, Morrissey, Paul Weller, Alison Limerick, D Influence, Kirsty MacColl, 4 Hero, Brian Kennedy, Mark Nevin, Mary Coughlan, Snowboy & Earthling to name a few. A full list of album & single releases I have appeared on can be found at Sessions

Over the past few years I have written with & produced tracks for many other artists & now have my own record label - StayTuned Records.

I have also worked as a jazz critic on radio & regularly review albums for the Musicians Union magazine.

I am currently teaching jazz vibraphone at Trinity College of Music, London.